The Transfer Tavern

Arsenal’s potential transfer poaching could spell very good news for the future

Under Unai Emery, Arsenal are going through a massive rebuild and the fans in the Transfer Tavern are excited to see what changes will be made ahead of the new season.

Arsenal’s new boss has already sealed deals for Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno and most recently, former Dortmund man, Sokratis Papastathopoulos. However, it’s not just the first-team the club are looking to reshape but also it’s youth academy and are now linked with a move for Sunderland’s Sam Greenwood.

The Breakdown

According to ESPN, Arsenal are set to beat Manchester United and Stuttgart to the signing of the under-16 star.

Greenwood is regarded as one of the best young talents in his age group and has represented England at under-16 level. The young striker scored 21 goals in 26 appearances for Sunderland’s under-16s and 18s last season, which led to a host of Europe’s top clubs showing an interest.

Greenwood also turned down a new deal to remain at the club which opened the door for Manchester United and Arsenal to attempt to sign the youngster.

Sunderland’s academy has had a successful few years with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Duncan, Duncan Watmore and Jordan Pickford all progressing into the first-team.

With Sunderland now in League One, youth players have more chance of getting first-team football but with the club coming off back-to-back relegations, it seems it may be quite hard to keep some of their top talents who want to play at a higher level.